Just Like Old Friends

The newest trio to lead Merrily We Roll Along might just rewrite its Broadway history.

- JASON P. FRANK

IN NOVEMBER 1981, Merrily We Roll Along made its Broadway debut. Sixteen performances later, it famously closed as a flop. Created by Stephen Sondheim and Hal Prince, the show follows three plucky young friends-Frank, a composer; Charley, a playwright; and Mary, a writer who, over time, slowly start to resent one another. Notably, the story is told backward, spanning two decades from their 40s, when they're embittered adults, back down to their 20s, when they're aspirational artists hanging out on a roof. The 2016 documentary Best Worst Thing That Ever Could Have Happened chronicled the lives of the original production's actors-a cast of 16-to-25-year-olds-while painting a picture of how the show is widely perceived. "One of the lessons of adulthood is disappointment," one actor says in the film, summarizing both life and, ironically, Merrily. Now, the show is back on Broadway for the first time, directed by Maria Friedman, with 42 years of changes and a cast that earned rave reviews for an Off Broadway production last winter-Jonathan Groff, Lindsay Mendez, and Daniel Radcliffe, who play Frank, Mary, and Charley respectively potentially making it the type of show its explosive Act Two number "It's a Hit!" could be sung about.

Did you have a relationship to Merrily prior to getting involved with the production?

JONATHAN GROFF: The documentary was the first time I knew anything about it.

LINDSAY MENDEZ: Same.

DANIEL RADCLIFFE: I saw this production in London in 2013, and that was my only experience of the musical. I had no appreciation of the troubled history of the show until I watched the documentary.

What did you think when you were first cast together?